{"id":1086,"date":"2013-04-20T01:09:28","date_gmt":"2013-04-19T17:09:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gametrader.sg\/blog\/?p=1086"},"modified":"2013-07-27T16:42:50","modified_gmt":"2013-07-27T08:42:50","slug":"tomb-raider-review-new-lara-croft-gives-nathan-drake-a-run-for-his-money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gametrader.sg\/blog\/?p=1086","title":{"rendered":"Tomb Raider Review: New Lara Croft gives Nathan Drake a run for his money"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have never been a die-hard Tomb Raider fan. I recall attempting to play Tomb Raider in secondary school only to wind up in frustration over where to go, how to get from point A to B, and not having enough action to kill baddies on screen. Needless to say, apart from Lara’s stunning “bazookas”, Tomb Raider was nothing but a fleeting aldolescent memory. It was the wrong game for me at\u00a0a wrong\u00a0time.<\/p>\n

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Fast forward years later, Crystal Dynamics revamped Tomb Raider and give everything a different polish to it. Gone is Lara’s unbelievable giant boobs and hot pants. The unlimited ammo for the twin pistols were gone. The difficult puzzles that could let one get stuck and the sporadic wolves as enemies that come along are gone. Everything you thought you knew about Tomb Raider has been tweaked by Crystal’s touch.<\/p>\n

And that is a good thing. Tomb Raider has been around since the 1990s, and the series have shown really quality elements that gave its fair share of hardcore fans. However, despite\u00a0all of the games\u00a0being perfectly playable, Tomb Raider as a series feels tired out. Lara Croft as a character was losing its freshness too. With the new spin to it, Lara Croft morphs into a badass male fantasy to a more realistic character that one can actually emotionally connect to.<\/p>\n

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The game starts off with Lara and her crew starting on a voyage to learn more about the Yamatai tribe, a lost tribe from Japan where the queen apparently is said to have mysterious powers. Somehow, along the way, she and her crew got stranded in an island. Lara is a fresh, out-of-college girl with little combat experience. Her emotional and physical\u00a0vulnerability from the start gives a very credible feel to the character. Lara actually cries when she first killed someone. The obvious trembling in her voice, the panic in her combat actions are all examples of top-notch acting and details\u00a0that gives her a solid framework to begin with. As Lara gains experience, one can watch her grow from the initial clumsiness of her combat to the fluid killing moves she displays as a hardened warrior. Her voice slowly gains confidence as she navigate her way around the island to rescue her friends and to get them off the island.<\/p>\n

Graphics-wise, Tomb Raider is stunning. The environment is crisp and detailed, and every leaf, stalk, grass and waterfall is nicely placed and designed. Lara gets grime, dirt and blood\u00a0as she rolls and tumbles into places, and gets cleaner when she passes through waterfalls or slides along sloping rivers. Her previous battle wounds become visible scars. Her\u00a0lovely ponytail flutters in the wind and\u00a0falls nicely depending on gravity (and not like a stiff, waxed ponytail in earlier games).<\/p>\n

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The combat and level design for Tomb Raider is what truly shines for this game in the series. Tomb Raider flows seamlessly between puzzle, exploration, hunting to open, full pow-wow action. Each of Lara’s weapons are useful in their way, and like in Legends of Zelda, certain upgrades or equipment are needed to explore previously-locked areas. Lara begins with a makeshift bow and arrow, and she gains the ability to upgrade\u00a0it (and other weapons as well)\u00a0using salvage as currency in the game. The bow always gives me a satisfying feel of giving headshots to enemies as the game rewards precision over the crude blasting. The cover system is absolutely intuitive, allowing Lara to automatically go into combat without having to press any additional buttons or to lean out of cover. The puzzles are very well-balanced and evenly spread. Zealous puzzle solvers could satisfy their cravings in optional tombs, where a puzzle usually stands in the way of a much greater reward. Lastly, the set pieces are spectacular. For example, Lara has to scamper through\u00a0a burning\u00a0fortress and that\u00a0is easily one of the most heart-thumping moments in the game.<\/p>\n

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All these points out to how Crystal managed to take Uncharted and further refine the elements in it to make Tomb Raider a good solid game. When Uncharted was out, Naughty Dog was primed to take most of the thunder from the Tomb Raider series. But now, it seems like Tomb Raider has caught up, and gave much more\u00a0to the formula that\u00a0worked. Its storytelling, gameplay and graphics could give Uncharted\u00a0much to chew about.<\/p>\n

As I sat through the credits watching Lara giving up her previous\u00a0casual civilian life to a life of adventure, I saw a note from Crystal Dynamics saying, basically, \u201cThank you for playing, we tried our\u00a0hardest to make the best game we could possibly make.\u201d<\/p>\n

Well-done. Definitely well-done. This game deserves a 9.5\/10 from me.<\/p>\n

(P.S. I\u00a0have completed all the optional tombs. Let me know if you guys run into any difficulties)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have never been a die-hard Tomb Raider fan. I recall attempting to play Tomb Raider in secondary school only to wind up in frustration over where to go, how to get from point A to B, and not having enough action to kill baddies on screen. Needless to say, apart from Lara’s stunning “bazookas”, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p13AlF-hw","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1133,"url":"https:\/\/www.gametrader.sg\/blog\/?p=1133","url_meta":{"origin":1086,"position":0},"title":"10 PS3 games of 2013 for Christmas","date":"December 17, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"2013 is an exciting year for PS3, particularly because we witness a lot of blockbuster titles that tests the very limits of the PS3 system.\u00a0As\u00a0Santa bells ring and Christmas approaches, what does one do when your loved one is a PS3 gamer? Well...there is still time to do some last\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.gamesload.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/farcry3-2012-12-05-10-31-21-62.bmp?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":754,"url":"https:\/\/www.gametrader.sg\/blog\/?p=754","url_meta":{"origin":1086,"position":1},"title":"Defining Mobile Gaming","date":"February 1, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"The Beginning... Ten years ago, if you ask anyone what mobile gaming is and they would probably think you are referring to the 'Snake' game on their Nokia phones. Java game\u00a0 came next with the release of color phones (for the younger reader, yes phone use to come with monochrome\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Gadget"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gametrader.sg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/main.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":551,"url":"https:\/\/www.gametrader.sg\/blog\/?p=551","url_meta":{"origin":1086,"position":2},"title":"PlayStation Move – Is It Worth it?","date":"January 3, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I've recently managed to get my hands on the PlayStation Move and decided to write a review on it. I've bought the bundle with Sports Champions and subsequently bought the other Move games as well. Comparing with the Wii, PlayStation Move has definitely much better graphics, basically a Wii HD.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Game Review"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.killzone3.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/killzone3-box-cover-art.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1296,"url":"https:\/\/www.gametrader.sg\/blog\/?p=1296","url_meta":{"origin":1086,"position":3},"title":"Staying vigilant when buying online","date":"June 2, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"[This article was first\u00a0published at www.jaxxie.me] As promised in my previous post, I will be sharing how scammers make use of online marketplace platform to\u00a0scam unknowing buyers. Most of the content below are derived from my experience in running GameTrader.SG and GadgetTrader.SG. 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